Rockin the Rockies

Stowe Mtn

Thursday, May 5, 2016

2016 Rock Hounding Adventures Begin

Pikes Peak after a very snowy spring

The 2016 rock hounding season has begun. We’ve had a number
of late season snows in Colorado this year which has kept my hunting grounds
snow covered and wet. Even yesterday (4May) there were patches of snow on the
roads. With the sounds of humming birds buzzing the foothills and spring
flowers starting to assert themselves it was time to explore some of my
favorite sites. I find spring is the best time of year to prospect as all the
vegetation is dead and knocked down, the frost heaves have left patterns around
all the splintered surface rocks which helps for easier identification.

After prospecting for a bit near the top of a contact zone
between a rocky area and scree I found a spot with many shards of surface
quartz and one small crystal, I decided this was as good of a spot as any and
commenced digging near a fairly large dead tree. I have often had good luck
around trees and today was no exception. The tree was dead like so many others
burned out by the Hayman fire years ago so I had no qualms in ripping up the
decayed roots around the tree to see what was hidden hopefully below. The
pegmatite below looked good with graphic granite and even a few subhedral
crystal faces appearing. Down and up the hill I dug hitting some small smoky
quartz crystals, then a plate containing microcline and smokys.

As the crystals
began popping out of the pegmatite debris I wondered whether I should find my
digging partner to let him in on the fun. We forgot our 2-way radios and so I
had to walk down hill and find him and then back up the hill. It was about noon
so I thought a walk down and up the hill would do me good. Bob wasn’t having
much luck and was happy to climb the hill to see what I had found. After
watching me dig out a few crystals he found a spot and began finding a few
smokys for himself. I found smokys, microcline crystals, pseudomorphs of
goethite after calcite/siderite, cleavelandite and goethite. I would say the
best specimen I found was a 3” goethite spray capped with botryoidal goethite.
Sandwiched in the specimen is a chisel point smoky quartz crystal.

While the
crystals were near the surface (1foot down or less) the accumulation of iron staining
will make for a tedious cleanup of the crystals. Despite not being a tremendous
pocket it was a nice way to start the new digging season

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I wish to thank those who have viewed my blog and encouraged me to continue. Long overdue recognition to my 7th grade science teacher and principal Theodore De Jong who got me interested in minerals and science.

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About Me

I grew up outside Chicago in the suburb of Western Springs. I attended Timothy Christian School and then went on to college at Calvin College (BS) and the University of Michigan (MS) I entered the US Air Force and after several assignments retired in Colorado Springs. Along the way I got an MBA at Western New England University.